Stan's grin faded slightly at her response. Why was she so scared!?... Well, he could understand why she was scared.. but just because she had a terrible experience once, it doesn't mean that something like that was going to happen again. You just had to move on. At least, that was his opinion.

"Fine. You can just stand next to me, okay? YOU don't have to feed them." Now, see? That was a better deal. Oh. Wait. He flashed his cute smile at her that was reserved only for pretty girls. Heh. Now, she had to agree to go with him.. right?

Right.

Clearly this boy wasn't going to get it through his thick head that she didn't want to get any closer. Horse phobia much? Maybe. But she could live with it. Ariel glowered at him. No, no way was she going over there.

And then he decided to be all cute in the face.UGHHHHHGHGHGHGHGH.

"Fine," she huffed. "But I'm not feeding zem." And she was going to use him as a human shield. So there.

Yeah, he agreed with that. The fact that most of peers were utterly lost on most things muggle baffled him. Like, they had to interact Muggles a lot so why didn't they care? Pfft. Wizards and witches needed to work on their skills there. Yeah.

Smirking over at her, Ascanius offered, "Gorgeous, if you want I can show you round the shop." Next time she swung by 'course. He was curious if it would be for a similar reason next visit. She did seemed tired by the end of her stay. Mhmm.

By the way, he never did get her opinion on her visit. Did she have a good time? Essex WAS an interesting place, smirk.

And by the looks he was getting it seemed that she was still thinking about colours. That elicited a HUGE smirk from him. She needed to stop going on about that........it was like she WANTED his expertise, which was vast.

Stan looked slightly amused at her expression. She REALLY seemed annoyed and he was seriously starting to doubt if she was was going to come with him at all.

.... But then, she agreed! Stan couldn't help but smile again. He was slightly relieved AND he liked to show off his smile a LOT. And why not? She probably liked it anyway. Girls generally did.

"You don't have to..." And for the first time since their meeting, he noticed that this girl had an accent. And a nice one too. GRIN. "I like your accent." Just sayin'.

Addy had been so thrilled about Spike's arrival that it may have taken them a bit longer than was planned to get to the street festival, but HERE THEY WERE! She was smiling so brightly with her hand in his, that she was likely to blind someone with the wattage she was supplying!

"Honey, would you keep up! I want to love these animals." She tugged impatiently on his hand and giggled. And no, she did not notice a single person around them... Her eyes were glued to her BOYFRAND right now. And her mind was on the cute animals she was going to get to pet! HOW GLORIOUS!

Spike squeezed her hand tightly, not wanting to let it go for a second. It'd been too long since he'd felt her fingers entwined with his. And given that he was happy just ambling along, enjoying the sights and sounds of the fair, it was probably a good job they were holding hands, since he might otherwise have been left far behind by now.

"Okay, okay," he said, noticing her tugging. His face lit up with her giggles, and he couldn't help but grin back at her. Oh, how he'd missed her. "Which animals would you like to love first?"

Returning the squeeze to his hand she spun around and faced him, hands out to stop him. "Have I told you in the last 5 minutes how much I've missed you?" Because she did. A lot. Without waiting for his response she pulled him into an embrace and began to pepper his sweet face with kisses.

Animals. Right. She was in a public place. Making a spectacle of herself with a very public display of affection. HEHE!

Pulling back to look at him she grinned goofily into his face. "Winged horses. They're so fascinating. And beautiful. Very majestic."

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment, and was about to jokingly reply when she pulled him towards her. He emerged blushing, but with a wide grin on his face. "...well, you definitely have now," he said with a chuckle. "And I've missed you too." And she'd have to do petting one-handed today, because had he mentioned that he wasn't letting go of the hand he was holding? That hand was HIS.

At her choice Spike, gave a nod. "Lead the way, then." Today was about her, so she could do anything she wanted. He was here just to spend time with her, and to treat her when necessary. "You ever gotten to ride one?"

Addy didn't blush... She just giggled and gave him one more kiss before reluctantly beginning to lead the way to the animals again. "I'm so glad you're here. There was no way I was going to come alone."

She didn't like doing anything alone, really. She was so glad to have him along. If even for a brief time.

Had she ever ridden a WINGED horse? Her head was shaking vigorously before she clucked at him. "No. Never. Not a huge fan of heights. I've gotten better with them, but... No." She was not prepared to plummet to her death, mkay.

Her giggle was music to his ears, and Spike just wanted to stand and look at her all day. "I'm glad I could come." Unfortunately not for as long as either of them would probably like, but he was glad he could be here at all. "Got to treat my girl, sometimes." And yes he knew it was her idea, but he was taking her out today. Because he could.

Ah, yeah. He'd conveniently forgotten about her fear of heights. "Me neither. I bet it's pretty epic though." Like when he got to ride the hippogryff over the lake. Now that was AWESOME.

Seeing the machine of food as they approached the winged horses, Spike pulled a knut from the pocket of his shorts, and dropped it in. With Addy so excited about petting the horses, surely she'd love to feed them too? Truth be told, Spike would love to too. "There," he said, picking up the bag of food. "We've got something to feed them with too. Can't have them going hungry." Not that it was likely to happen in this environment. "How about we go say hello to that one?" He pointed at a friendly looking white horse close to the gate.

GOOD. He better not have doubted it. Cause if he had, then she might have had a number to pick with him.

She grinned again when he agreed to the no ice cream. Surely something he understood, given all the giddiness and later depression she experienced not all that long ago.

Squeezing his hand, she eyed the creatures with admiration, as they passed something as boring as flobberworms. "How strange that they would have a flobberworm here." Couldn't they find more interesting creatures....? "OH! Look at the Abraxans!" She pulled him to the next penned area. She leaned up and whispered to him, "And I think ... that one there, is scratching the other's behind," and smiled in amusement. Ah the little things.

SHE was glad he could come! She was so excited to see him in the flesh after so many months of talking via mirrors. She was happy for him being in Madagascar, but she was selfish enough to want him home. "I love you I love you I love you." It came out kind of sing song ish... and she was sure people around them wanted to vomit, but she just didn't care. Not even a little bit.

"Epic is not the word I would have chosen." Scary? Yes. Deadly? Probably.

And no, she was not letting go with the one hand. Nope. She was prepared to do everything one handed today. Following his point she beamed and nodded her head. "Yes, that one looks lovely. You don't think they'll bite, do you?" It totally wasn't going to stop her feeding them, but she was definitely curious.

Usually Olly would have slapped any hand that tried to get close to her face. Or at least she would have ducked. But when Schuyler reached up, she was too surprised to do anything. So instead, she just stood there, completely unmoving for a moment, her eyes following Schuyler's fingers. What...? It was only when the other girl put the cotton candy into her mouth that Olly realized what had just happened. Oh. And somehow she had once again managed to forget what they were talking about. Not that Schuyler seemed to expect another answer from her so all was well.

Olly turned her head away from the flobberworms and towards Schuyler at the girl's next words. How...poetic. "I guess..." That was a good point though. But since they were on that. "But they're also blissfully unaware of the positive things in life." Okay, seriously, since WHEN was she the optimistic kind? Because she wasn't. She really wasn't. So what was with her today?

Weird day today, very weird.

Her eyes briefly flicked back to the Niffler who was running off with Schuyler's coin. Shame. Though, the Niffler looked happy and so did Schuyler. Or at least she looked amused so Olly just shrugged it off. Okay, she SHOULD have anticipated that her friend would want to get some food. But at least she was coming with. That way Olly wouldn't have to interact with anyone else on the way.

And more questions for her. About her family. She regarded Schuyler for a moment, picking on her last bits of cotton candy. "Yes. Yes, I have a little sister." And then because for once she actually was genuinely interested in the other girl's life too, she returned the question. "Do you?" Maybe they could just walk towards the food dispenser on the waaaaay back of the petting zoo.

Spike chuckled. She was being SO adorable right now, and as much as it'd probably make it worse when it came to leaving, he couldn't help but lap it all up now. The mirrors were great, but they simply weren't HER. He kissed the top of her head, and grinned. "I love you too."

So, he'd missed her fear of heights twice. Ooops? "Perhaps not." She was probably thinking bad things, right. He winced a little. "Are you totally opposed to flying?" He'd never done it with her, and he couldn't remember her exact views on the topic. Like, was flying over a beach at sunset out?

Holding up the bag of food so she could take some, Spike shook his head. "Of course not. It'd only bite if provoked, and horses in a petting zoo will be used to humans. Not like a wild one." Plus, it's main form of attack would probably be it's hooves if it WAS provoked, which they weren't going to do.

See, she was not even thinking about his leaving. Nope. She was in perfectly happy denial about all of it. YEP. She smiled big up at him and giggled. He was so perfect. PERFECT.

Was she totally OPPOSED to flying? Well... she had to think about it for a moment... "Ican'tfly...I'veNeverlearnthow..." There it was. Her dark secret. She had always been so afraid of heights that she never learnt to fly. Ever. She had just conquered climbing a ladder a few years ago. FEAR! She had it.

OH LOOK AT THE HORSEY!

Addy took some food from the bag with her free hand and tugged them closer. CLOSE ENOUGH TO TOUCH THE WINGED HORSEY! EHRMAGHERD!

She loved it so much. She wanted one as a pet... SHE NEEDED ONE.

"I wonder if it has a name..."

See? Those giggles. He could listen to them all day. And he was planning to. And that smile. And just...well, he could go on.

She'd never learnt? He knew he'd never seen her fly, and that she didn't like it, but he hadn't thought it was because she couldn't. "Would you like to give it a try?" he asked softly. "With me? So I can keep you safe?" Flying had been such a bit part of his Hogwarts life, and he missed the sensation of the wind through his curls. He'd love to take her out for evening rides if she wanted to give it a go. But if she didn't, then he understood. Fear was a nasty thing.

Oh, more tugging. Well, someone was demanding today. Hehe. "I don't know. I'd ask, but I don't speak horse." He wasn't that good with creature. Was there a name plaque notice thingy along the fence somewhere?

So, exactly how many of these animals would Addy want by the end of the day?

Did she want to fly? Was this a trick question? She wasn't sure whether she did or not. But she knew that Spike was merely trying to help her conquer her fears. Much like Rawdon had tried.

Chewing her lips she stroked the Horsey's mane and thought on it. And... she nodded a bit. "Only with you, though. And you have to be patient with me." Those were the rules! And she knew that Spike enjoyed Flying... and she would like to at least TRY for his sake.

"We could name it. Like... a name just for us to call it by?" AND HELLO!! Were those nifflers over there? HOW CUTE WERE THEY? She wanted one. Not that she was going to tell Spike. He already thought she wanted too many animals. HMPH.

He could see it wasn't an easy decision, and he wondered if it was wrong of him to ask like that. Putting her on the spot. She knew he'd never ask her to do something that she didn't want to though, so she should know he'd be happy with a straight forward 'no'. But then there were nods. Nervous ones, but nods all the same. "Of course." He could do patient for her. Because he really would like to take her flying somewhere romantic at sunset if he could. "We'll build up slowly, I promise. And if you don't like it, we'll stop."

"What sort of name?" Spike asked, glancing round the side of the horse, and ducking down a bit. "I think it's a girl, but it's hard to tell from this angle." Luckily, that caused him miss her eyeing the nifflers.

On reappearing, he rested the food bag on the fence, and reached out to touch the horse, petting her on the nose. "Hey girl...aren't you just a beauty?"

Addy would be lying if she said she wasn't scared to fly, even with Spike. Because she was. Totally. Flying was scary business. What if she FELL. There was no net to catch her, or wires or anything. And she was pretty sure she'd just plummet to her death because she would be too scared to use magic to save herself. GAH. "Okay baby. I trust you." She did. SHE DID. And she squeezed his hand just to prove it.

What kind of name? It had to be EPIC. "Ummmm. We could call her... Patronus." Because that was an awesome name. And it WAS a girl. Mhm. Addy was certain of it. The horsey was too sweet to be a boy. She whinnied a bit when Addy said Patronus, even. WIN! She smiled triumphantly over at Spike and said, "I think she likes that name. What do you think?"

Addy giggled and watched Patronus nibble at the food bag when Spike wasn't paying attention. Clearly she was all for letting animals do what they wanted. CLEARLY.


But something caught Addy's eye and she stood on tip toe to peer down the alley... toward... the vendors. "Spike... is that James Wilkes over there?" With all the PRETTY FLOWERS.

Flying didn't need to be a scary business, and Spike wouldn't let it be. For one, he would never willingly put her at risk. He simply nodded, and squeezed her hand back. "Thank you." Maybe they should wait until the warm weather came again after he move back, just so she got to have the experience at it's best. Flying in the pouring rain wasn't fun for anybody. Nor snow, unless it involved rolling down a big snow drift at the end.

"I think she does too, sweetheart." Well, the horse had responded well enough, so he was inclined to agree. Admittedly, horse were rather much larger than the creatures he tended to favour. He gave Patronus a good stroke down the mane. "I bet you look majestic in the air," he said, reaching over to the food bag, only to find it partially empty and a nose nearby. "Well, aren't you just sneak-"

Huh? Spike turned to try and follow Addy's gaze. He squinted through his glasses, before shaking his head. "No idea. If you can't tell, how you expecting the short sighted one to see?" He could see some brightly coloured stalls though, and if it WAS Jimmy, it'd be great to go say hi. "You want to wander over in that direction?"

Apparently he had done well with his agreement to the ban on ice cream, the grin that spread across Fina's face was proof enough of that. Which was a good sign given the rollercoaster he had been warned of. So far so good in his attempt to make sure she enjoyed her summer.

"No clue." he answered with a shrug. "To each his own I gu---" Addison continued, breaking off as finds himself being pulled this time. He couldn't help shaking his head in amusement yet hardly fought the matter though, knowing better than anyone it wasn't exactly worth the struggle. Thankful it wasn't for a long haul.

Abraxans....yes...most definantly better than flobberworms.

"Why of course it is," the cursebreaker remarked matter of factly. "How else is it going to be scratched? I doubt the nose of any horse can reach that far back. Can you imagine an Abraxan chasing its own tail like a dog?" Certainly made sense when you thought of it that way.

Text Cut: Ascanius :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict

Yeah, he agreed with that. The fact that most of peers were utterly lost on most things muggle baffled him. Like, they had to interact Muggles a lot so why didn't they care? Pfft. Wizards and witches needed to work on their skills there. Yeah.

Smirking over at her, Ascanius offered, "Gorgeous, if you want I can show you round the shop." Next time she swung by 'course. He was curious if it would be for a similar reason next visit. She did seemed tired by the end of her stay. Mhmm.

By the way, he never did get her opinion on her visit. Did she have a good time? Essex WAS an interesting place, smirk.

And by the looks he was getting it seemed that she was still thinking about colours. That elicited a HUGE smirk from him. She needed to stop going on about that........it was like she WANTED his expertise, which was vast.

Was Ascanius for real? Yeah, he was. Lottie's face lit up, that would be amazing, A, really amazing. But since she was cool, she didn't fangirl over this or anything, she simply nodded and said, "Sure, next time I stop by, yeah?" Which would be soon, anyway. This next visit could definitely have something in common with the last one, too. It was up to Ascanius, actually.

Of course, she wouldn't brag about this to Aidan, because, no. If question came up, she'd rather not answer a single one. Also, stop by. It sounded as if she's been hanging out with Ascanius all summer, and that's only happened once.

THAT SMIRK. "Stop thaaat." Honestly. She smirked as well, because that their thing. He smirks, she smirks back, he winks, she winks back. "Let's go somewhere else." Lottie was rather thirsty anyway, he could just keep her company.

Oh hey there. Jeez, Lottie was awful excited at the idea of looking around a ruddy, old repair shop, yeah? Her face had just gone a thousand files brighter, which Ascanius didn't understand. It was just a shop. S'not like anything important or cool, though the motorbike he has spent all summer building WAS awesome. But this was way too much bubbly excitement for a grease shop.

Humouring her, he smiled-ish, it moreso resembled a smirk and probably was, at her and said, "Absolutely, beautiful."

Smiiiiirk. He had really enjoyed the last time she visited, although she was a bit of a tyrant when it came to music. They were his records to begin with and she was mostly relaxing anyway, so maybe NEXT time if they did they same round about he could tap along. He hadn't been bothering anyone. Well, Lottie, but whatever.

And he was in the midst of a VERY attractive smirk, all of his were but the current one was his Mona Lisa, and she got all spazzed out. Blinking, he kept smirking, "S'my thing." Wink. And he nodded at her request to go do something else. S'fine with him, yeah?

A smile graced Schuyler's lips as it dawned on her that they were getting into a deep discussion about.. flobberworms. Well, maybe those things deserved a little consideration - no one else really cared much about flobbies. The niffler was still hoarding the coin, and Schuyler had basically forgotten about it already. She was more interested in what Olly had to say about her family.

A little sister. It was difficult to get insight into whether there was a close relationship there or not. Sometimes she could detect some sort of subconscious smile or a sigh that would hint towards how the person felt about their siblings, but Schuyler wasn't sure yet. "So, just you two and your parents? And Julian." No forgetting the toad. She walked contentedly along with Olly. The sun was peeking out more now, and she lowered her sunglasses down from her head and onto her nose. "I have a little sister, too. She's the youngest. And then I have a younger brother and an older brother, too." An even four.

She finished off the remainder of the pink cotton candy and tossed the paper cone into the garbage bin along the way. Well, this was turning into quite the day. A day of two-way mirrors, cotton candy, and flobberworms.

Ariel rolled her eyes. What was it with this boy and trying to get her over to the horses?

He was going to have to cut it out with that smile though, looking good was only going to get him so far.

Wait... "Really?" she asked. Did he mean it? She really didn't want to get any closer than she already was. Maybe he wasn't as thick-headed as she had thought. "I mean, I would really prefer to stay 'ere..." Ariel mumbled. She didn't want to appear rude. "You can go still, if you like. I can watch from over here!" she told him with a half-smile and a nod. She didn't want to keep him from having a good time.

HE WHAT.

Ariel blinked at Stan for a moment in confusion. Obviously she had an accent, she knew that. She'd been practicing English for years, but that didn't mean her French accent was gone. Granted, it was much less obvious than some accents she had heard *cough* PIERRE.

"Thanks?"